the art of being an artist

Being an artist is only around 20% about making art, and 30% thinking about how or what to make. Another 30% is marketing yourself, and much of this effort is futile. I'm going to say that the next 15% is drumming up resources to keep making the art, and the last 5% is reaping the benefits, like having gallery exhibitions.

I just spent a few hours trying to round up some contacts over the internet. I don't know how anyone did it before the web. Of course, back then I think there was less competition too. These days everyone and their eleven year old niece consider themselves photographers. Since the advent of Live Journal and Deviant Art, bad fetish photographers and cliche goth-artists have now started considering themselves true artists. That's the thing about Post-modernism that irks me - 'bad' is now considered an aesthetic choice. For millennia, skill was a limiting factor to weed out incapable artists. Now incapable artists are able to squeeze right in with brilliant artists, since art is so subjective.

Since I am on a rant, I would like to say that people suck. I have found that most people are willing to do and say anything to keep from admitting that they were wrong. I learned long ago that if you just admit you made a mistake, people are very forgiving. When you lie and blame others, it's obvious and you look foolish. I wish everyone could accept this. Enough of that, though. I promise that a lot of good artwork is on it's way!